Chapter 2 - THE GUEST WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
No one moved.
Ethan could hear rain striking the windows at the end of the corridor.
Vivian’s eyes remained fixed on the closed door.
Grant looked at his mother.
Then at Ethan.
“What was that?”
Ethan shrugged.
“Old pipes.”
Grant took one step forward.
“I thought you said rats.”
“I’m beginning to understand why this house has so many problems.”
Grant’s face hardened.
Vivian touched her son’s arm.
The gesture was almost invisible.
Stop.
Ethan noticed.
Vivian forced another smile.
“The east wing has been closed for years.”
“So you mentioned.”
“It is structurally unsafe.”
“Then you should be grateful I found the problem before the ceiling collapsed.”
Grant stared at the splintered frame.
“How exactly did you open that door?”
“With difficulty.”
“That room was locked.”
“That usually explains why people break doors.”
Grant stepped closer.
The tension changed.
Ethan had spent his life negotiating with men who hid threats beneath polite language.
Grant Ashford was not particularly good at it.
“You damaged private property.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Send me the bill.”
Vivian spoke before Grant could respond.
“Of course.”
She turned toward the stairs.
“We should all get some rest.”
Ethan smiled.
“Excellent idea.”
Grant remained where he was.
Vivian looked back.
“Grant.”
He finally followed.
Ethan waited until their footsteps disappeared.
Then he reopened the door.
Claire was shaking.
“They know.”
“Not everything.”
“They heard me.”
“They heard something.”
“You don’t understand them.”
“I understand people who panic when their secret makes noise.”
Ethan removed his phone.
There was no signal.
He had noticed the poor reception earlier.
Now he wondered whether it was accidental.
“Does the house have internet?”
“Usually.”
“My phone lost connection fifteen minutes ago.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
“They shut it down.”
Ethan tried the emergency satellite messenger built into his watch.
A weak connection appeared.
He typed a short encrypted message to his chief security officer.
ASHFORD ESTATE.
IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION.
POLICE CONTACT THROUGH PRIVATE CHANNEL.
POSSIBLE KIDNAPPING VICTIM.
DO NOT CALL HOUSE.
The message showed pending.
Then sent.
Ethan exhaled.
Claire looked at him.
“Who did you contact?”
“Someone Vivian can’t fire.”
For the first time, Claire almost smiled.
Then footsteps thundered downstairs.
Not one person.
Several.
Ethan’s expression changed.
“That was fast.”
Claire shook her head.
“Too fast.”
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Claire gasped.
Ethan reached for her.
“It’s me.”
A second later, emergency lighting glowed dim red along the hallway.
A man shouted downstairs.
“Mr. Hale?”
It was Grant.
“We have a problem with the generator.”
Ethan looked toward Claire.
“No.”
She whispered.
“They’re clearing the house.”
“How do you know?”
“They did this before.”
“When?”
“When someone came looking for me.”
Ethan went still.
“Who?”
Claire’s eyes filled with something he had not seen yet.
Hope mixed with grief.
“A detective.”
“What detective?”
“I never knew his first name.”
“He came twenty years ago.”
“I heard him arguing downstairs.”
“He said there were inconsistencies in my drowning.”
“What happened?”
Claire stared toward the floor.
“That night, the lights went out.”
“And the next morning?”
“He never came back.”
A crash echoed from downstairs.
Then a woman screamed.
Melissa.
Grant’s wife.
Another voice shouted that there was smoke in the kitchen.
Ethan walked toward the hall.
Claire grabbed his sleeve.
“It’s a distraction.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t go.”
“If I don’t, they come here.”
He handed her his phone.
“Lock the door.”
“It locks from outside.”
“Then barricade it.”
“With what?”
Ethan looked around.
The iron bed.
“Use everything.”
He stepped into the hallway.
Then stopped.
“If anyone except me opens this door, scream.”
Claire’s voice shook.
“I stopped screaming a long time ago.”
Ethan met her eyes.
“Start again.”
He closed the door.
Downstairs, smoke drifted through the foyer.
Grant stood near the kitchen entrance.
Vivian was nowhere in sight.
Melissa looked frightened.
Two servants hurried with extinguishers.
Ethan descended slowly.
“What happened?”
Grant turned.
“Electrical fire.”
Ethan looked toward the untouched breaker panel.
“Convenient.”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
Then Ethan saw movement reflected in a mirror.
Vivian.
She was climbing the rear staircase.
May you like
Toward the east wing.
Ethan ran.
